All European dairy from Ireland is grass-fed dairy, which has long been known as a premium form of dairy — studies have shown that this contains higher amounts of linoleic acid (omega-6 fatty acids) and omega-3 fatty acids, both of which are essential fatty acids that must be consumed from food.
Such is the general faith in the premium quality of Irish dairy that the European Union chose the Irish Food Board (Bord Bia) to run the dairy portion of its promotional campaign into Asia, representing an EUR3.2m investment over three years to tap on growing demand for functional nutrition and rising incomes in this market.
“Grass-fed dairy is essentially when the cows producing that dairy consume a diet that is at least 95% grass, and must spend an average of 240 days out on the pasture,” Bord Bia ESG Programme Manager Maedbh Sheehan said.
“Ireland is home to the world’s first grass-fed standard that specifies these requirements, ensuring that the quality of Irish grass-fed dairy is maintained.”
“The dairy industry in this market is flourishing and seeing good growth in comparison with many others, finding appeal even among younger people who are keen to get into the sector,” said Declan Fennell, head of EU promotions.
“This is due to the sector continuing producing good returns on investment and job opportunities, which in turn offers supply security which is essential for export and trade.”
While Ireland has had longstanding dairy trade relationships with many mature dairy markets, it is now turning its attention to increase focus on less mature but rapidly developing markets such as Asia due to demographic and economic growth as well as evolving consumer demands in this region.
“Traditionally Ireland has exported a lot to key markets such as the UK, North America, and Europe, but while these traditional markets are still there, as we continue to evolve and grow and our capabilities increase, export markets are becoming increasingly important,” Bord Bia client manager, Dairy Industry Tara Bane added.
“This is especially clear in Asia where we’ve seen demands of consumers evolve especially in markets such as Vietnam, Singapore and China. For example, Vietnam is one of the countries with the highest consumption of European style cheese and butter, so that’s how you know Irish dairy can be appealing here.”
Dairy makes up Ireland’s single largest source of export income at a value of EUR7.3bn (US$) in 2025, seeing an amazing 14% growth year-on-year.
“The milk produced here is very premium, which in turn means that this can be made into even more premium products such as cheese, butter and protein powders with great nutritional claims, which consumers are willing to pay a premium price for,” Tirlan Marketing Manager Aoife Herlihy said.
“In the Asia Pacific region, especially in places like China, Singapore, South East Asia, consumers are becoming more educated in learning about how ingredients are made or what products they consume, so are now looking for claims like grass-fed, natural, minimally processed.”
While grass-fed dairy is at the heart of Ireland’s premium push, the fact is that as Asian consumer demands continue to change, there is an undeniable shift towards products with higher functionality and personalised benefits, which is already becoming very visible with the growth seen in categories such as sports nutrition.
“Dairy has been undergoing significant changes, particularly here in Ireland over the past 10 year. One thing that we’re really noticing is sort of that increase in demand for specialised nutrition, such as in for example sports nutrition where there is a high increase in demand for things from protein bars to powders,” Bane added.
“Many of the raw ingredients required to make these products are dairy-based, such as whey proteins or casein, and as sports nutrition and protein demand moves more and more into the mainstream space, this is a major opportunity for us.”
To find out more about European dairy from Ireland’s premium push into Asia, check out the video above where we feature expert insights from some of Ireland’s leading dairy firms and research entities.
We will also meet the farmer and some of the cows producing dairy for one of the country’s most well-known brands, Bailey’s Irish Cream — including crowd favourite Sally the Cow, and a few friends!
